Abstract expressionism | Oil Painting Express

Artist Spotlight: Jackson Pollock

May

2010

I can't decide if Jackson Pollock is totally overrated or actually a bit underrated. Stenographic Figure, Oil on linen, 1942, painting by Jackson Pollock, © 2010 Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York He is a house-hold name, even kids know who Jackson Pollock is. But the name Jackson Pollock, I think, it is often written off as: Oh yeah the splatter painting. Insert eye roll.

But to see a Pollock painting, to stand in front of one, is to witness a rainbow of a composition. One that strikes through the soul in an instant storm of lightning.

Pollock is famous for not painting on the canvas but by dripping paint on the work. Yet his paintings weren't just random splotches of paint thrown here and there, as seems to be thought in passing conversation. Looking at the compositions they are incredibly complex, balanced and exactly how he got the paint on canvas can still incite wonder.

Oil Painting Through The Ages: Color Field

December

2009

No. 3/No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange), oil on canvas painting by Mark Rothko

No. 3/No. 13 (Magenta, Black, Green on Orange), oil on canvas painting by Mark Rothko

If there ever was a painting-by-mood school of art, color field would seem to fit the bill. Think large canvases of perfectly brush-stroked and mixed colors, paintings that are interesting in the way the paint is laid upon the canvas, how it is mixed, paintings that truly evoke a feeling, as there is no scene to look at and nothing else to get caught up in.

Color field was an American art movement, it's birth in New York City, mostly during the 40's and 50's. The color field painters for the most part were also known as the “New York School” of artists, which also included poets, dancers and musicians.

When imagining color field work, the fuzzy colors of Mark Rothko's infamous canvases first come to mind. Although it should be said that Rothko eschewed labels altogether, refusing to refer to himself as an abstract artist, much less a color field artist! While working on New York on his grand portfolio of colored canvases, he taught art and clay molding for income.